Guarda, Portugal, Sep. 13 (Lusa) - Wine production in Portugal's Beira Interior region is set to drop by some 40% this year from last, but the quality of the wine remains "assured", the regional wine commission, the CVRBI, announced on Thursday.
The CVRBI's technical director, Rodolfo Queirós, said that last year the region produced about 22.5 million kg of grapes, but that this year's projection is for “a slump of about 40%” because of various factors.
This year, he said, has been “completely atypical”, with production hit by several weather-related factors, such as the amount of rain and the high temperatures that have one the one hand fostered disease in vines and on the other “scalded” the grapes. While some vines are in almost as good condition as a normal year, while others are “very complicated” cases.
The adverse weather conditions affected “almost the entire region”, Queirós said, with the Pinhel region - where the region's largest area under vines is - particular badly affected.
Wine quality, however, has not been jeopardised, he stressed.
The harvest is starting in much of the CVRBI region and Queirós said he believed there would “still [be] a lot to choose from” to ensure the quality of wines produced in the region.
The CVRBI, which is headquartered in Guarda, has responsibility for the grape-growing areas of Castelo Rodrigo, Pinhel and Cova da Beira, in the districts of Guarda and Castelo Branco. The region has a total of 65 wine producers, four of them cooperatives and the rest private producers.